Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-93):
Iolanta (1892)
August 23, and 24, 2025
Aronoff Center for the Arts
Artistic Director and Conductor: Isaac Selya
Stage Director: Dashiell Waterbury
Stage Manager: Kait Naylor
Assistant Stage Manager: Raeya Garcia
Scenic Design: Scott McGhee
Scenic Construction: Sean McGhee
Costume Design, Hair and Makeup: Laura Molander
Costume Assistant: Katie Ruwe
Assistant Conductor: Michael Patterson
Rehearsal Pianist: Diana Chubak
Supertitles Coordinator: Mike Goist
Cast in order of appearance:
Iolanta: Cristina Jones
Marta: Lauren McAllister
Brigitta: Erin Keesy
Laura: Kaylee Nichols
Beatrix: Alea Louise Vernon
Bertran: Benjamin Flanders
Almeric: Travis Pearce
King René: Michael Hyatt
Ibn-Hakia: Andrew Hallam
Robert: K. Michael Young
Vaudemont: M. Andrew Jones
Queen City Opera Orchestra
Flutes
Betania Canas
Julia Baker
Arpi Anderson
Oboes
Austin Smith
Sarah Minneman
Bonnie Farr (English Horn)
Clarinet
Erin Fung
Krista Weiss
Bassoons
Rachael Young
Kathleen Moran
Horns
Rachel Hockenberry
Eric Morin
Charlotte Ulmer
Kenji Ulmer
Trumpets
Audrey Schmid
Dave Zeng
Trombones & Tuba
David Roode
David Parilla
Sean McGhee
Andrew Jones
Timpani
San-Lou Wei
Harp
Zibin Zhou
Violin 1
Jordana Greenberg
Youjin Na
Nick Naegele
Pin-Hsuan Chen
Gabrielle Sewell
Kiran Rajamani
Violin 2
Yu-Kun Hsiang
Jungeun Noh
JaeEun Lee
Lu Li
Vera Hsu
Marion Peraza
Viola
Ryan Tolentino
Judy Huang
Melissa Peraza
Nathaniel Sendi
Cello
Juneho Josh Kim
Diana Flores
Shu-Li Cheah
Josh Bermudez
Bass
Maurice Todd
Ben Grabell
Iolanta is a rarely produced gem of a show. Shockingly relevant and with a brilliant and funny libretto by the composer’s brother, this piece earns a place in the canon of great operas.
Those who approach our production and all those that follow would do well to keep in mind how disability is being portrayed in the show. Harmful stereotypes of blindness do exist in media and cause real-world damage by reinforcing notions that exclude and even demonize the blindness community. Our production strives to highlight the damage done by a lack of accommodation and acceptance, and in the pursuit of that goal we depict varying levels of indifference, hostility and rejection of our protagonist. While this is unpleasant to portray or witness, even in a comedy, we aim to start conversations about how to undo the damage that such behavior causes. Rather than celebrating light to the exclusion of dark, we seek to celebrate both lived experiences, in the same way we might celebrate both the feminine and the masculine. Iolanta is a character who leaps off the page and into the heart, and we hope to honor her experience and the many people who have lived her story for real.
– Dashiell Waterbury and Cristina Jones
Synopsis:
Iolanta is the final opera composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, with a libretto by his brother Modest. The work premiered in St. Petersburg on December 18, 1892, as part of a double bill with Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet. The opera, based on the play King René’s Daughter by Henrik Hertz, tells the story of Iolanta, a blind princess who is unaware of her blindness due to the overprotection of her father, King René.
Iolanta lives in a secluded garden, sheltered from the outside world, until the arrival of a young knight, Count Vaudémont, who stumbles upon her garden when he gets lots hiking in the mountains. He is smitten with her, and inadvertently reveals her condition to her when he asks her for a red rose, to which she replies, “what does ‘red’ mean?”
Vaudémont immediately grasps that she is blind, and proceeds to tell her about light and vision, concepts that she has never encountered due to her father insisting that she not learn that she is blind. She is eager to learn more about the world and about these new concepts, but she decides that she does not actually need them to experience beauty or to survive, as she has developed her own ways of interacting with the world. The opera concludes with a hymn praising love and truth.
Artist Biographies
Iolanta: Cristina Jones
Cristina Jones, known as The Blind Soprano, is a Japanese-Welsh soprano celebrated for the unique ways she blends advocacy with performance. Her performance credits include Sensorium Ex, Mozart’s Requiem, Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, Die Zauberflöte (Queen of the Night), Amahl and the Night Visitors (Mother), Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Art in the Dark, and NPR’s From the Top.
Cristina is also active in disability representation, contributing to projects with the BBC, ABC, Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, Netflix’s AJ and the Queen, and more. In 2022, she won San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Awards for Best Opera Singer, Best New Discovery, and Best Opera Performance.
Learn more at www.theblindsoprano.com
Marta: Lauren McAllister
Cincinnati-based Mezzo-Soprano Lauren McAllister recently performed the role of Second Lady with Queen City Opera’s Super Flute and sang the mezzo solo in Corigliano’s Fern Hill with the Akron Symphony Orchestra. This season, Lauren appeared as the Alto Soloist in Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with both the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and Queen City Opera, and Alto Soloist in Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb with Vox Veritatis. With Conspirare, she premiered and recorded Mark Buller’s Requiem in the Light. Other performances this season include Alto Soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah and the role of Madame de Volanges in The Dangerous Liaisons with Vegas City Opera.
Lauren performs regularly with a variety of choral ensembles, including Conspirare, the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble, the Bach Ensemble of Saint Thomas, and Heri et Hodie. Lauren is an artist on four Grammy®-nominated recordings for Best Choral Performance.
Brigitta: Erin Keesy
Soprano, Erin Keesy is currently based in Cincinnati, OH. She has been praised for her musicality, artistry and sensitivity. She has a diverse performing resume including professional solo and choral engagements. Recent 2024-25 engagements include performing with Teddy Abrams, Composer and Conductor of MAMMOTH, a new work performed by the Louisville Orchestra and Louisville Chamber Choir at Mammoth Cave in a once in a lifetime performance with Yo-Yo Ma honoring our nations National Parks. She was also featured in the stage premiere of a new opera called The Knock with Cincinnati Opera. More recently, she performed the title role in Tchaikovsky’s Undina with Queen City Opera, Zerlina in Cincinnati Opera’s Don Giovanni, Pamina in an exciting new production of The Magic Flute depicting Mozart’s beloved cast as characters from video games, and was the soprano soloist in Carmina Buran awith the Grammy-Winning Louisville Orchestra.
Laura: Kaylee Nichols
Hailed by the press as “a gifted performer” and “a treat to savor,” Kaylee Nichols, American Mezzo-Soprano, was recently seen as Flora in La traviata at The Santa Fe Opera where she was a recipient of the 2024 Award of Excellence. She also covered the role of Michele in The Righteous by Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith after workshopping the role with Opera Fusion: New Works. This season, Kaylee will debut with Cincinnati Opera as Giovanna in Rigoletto, Laura in Iolanta with Queen City Opera, and premiere the role of Hannah in Forward Into Light by Stephen Variames and Kathleen Stakenas.
In the 2023-2024 season, Kaylee debuted with rave reviews as the Kitchen Boy in Rusalka at The Santa Fe Opera. She also debuted with Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra as the Alto Soloist in Handel’s Messiah and with Kentucky Opera for a same day jump-in performance of the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors.
Beatrix: Alea Louise Vernon
Cherokee Indian, and Italian American Soprano, Alea Louise Vernon obtained her Bachelor’s degree at The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Elliot Madore and William McGraw. She has recently returned in pursuance of her Masters of Music, in Vocal Performance. Ms. Vernon is an alumna of The Juilliard School, Pre College Division; and The Ensign-Darling Fellowship at The Bushnell Theater in Hartford, Connecticut. This past season, Ms. Vernon made her professional debut with Queen City Opera singing The Queen of The Night, in Josh Shaw’s reimagined video game production of Magic Flute.
Prior to beginning her studies at CCM, Alea spent her summers at The Casentino Voice Festival in Popi, Italy, New York Summer Music Festival, The Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and The Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Ms. Vernon enjoys being “Dog Mom” to four year old Mini-Bernedoodle, Sophie Vernon. The two can be found going on runs and walks, and of course visiting the local puppy Patisserie.
Bertran: Benjamin Flanders
Bass-baritone Ben Flanders is the founder and Artistic Director of the art song collective “Slavic Voices” which specializes in the song repertoire of Russia, Ukraine, Poland and the Czech Republic. An active performer in opera, oratorio and art song, Mr. Flanders performed at the Kharkiv City Day celebrations in 2018 and 2019, among other appearances in Ukraine. Recent appearances include the role of The Jailer in Dayton Opera’s production of Tosca, as well as appearances with Queen City Opera, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and Vocal Arts Ensemble. In demand as a recitalist, he performs regularly in the Cincinnati area, as well as bringing concerts of Slavic Voices to the University of Vermont, Idaho State University, the University of Saint Thomas in Minnesota and many other venues. Mr. Flanders is also committed to supporting and performing new American art song, most recently the Kentucky premiere of Kile Smith’s song cycle “Sometimes it happens so” at the Skald Festival of Northern Kentucky University.
Almeric: Travis Pearce
Tenor Travis Pearce is a Cincinnati-based artist who has been performing in the area for several years. He has performed with Cincinnati Opera for several years while also frequently performing with Queen City Opera. He has been heard in the roles of First Prisoner in Beethoven’s Fidelio and Max in Weber’s Der Frieschütz. Other roles in his repertoire include Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Sam Kaplan and Lippo Fiorentino in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene and Mr. EEE in the world premiere of Martian Chronicles. Most recently, Travis was a participant in les Grandes Voix d’Opera d’Afrique. As well, while attending the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, Travis was awarded the Harold Heiberg Liedersänger Preis for his extraordinary performances of Schubert lieder. As the winner, he was later invited to sing a recital of lieder and operetta for the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
King René: Michael Hyatt
Bass, Michael Hyatt, is thrilled to be returning to Queen City Opera after appearing as Sarastro Kong in last year’s production of Super Flute. Michael received his Bachelor’s in Voice at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, and then continued on to receive his Master’s in Voice as well as an Artist’s Diploma at the College-Conservatory of Music at UC. Michael has also performed with Dayton Opera and Cincinnati Opera.
When not on the opera stage, Michael also performs as a guitarist and bassist. Michael is currently the professor of guitar at Thomas More University. He plays in several groups in the Cincinnati area including Pauly & the Fall From Grace and Mid-life Reverie.
Michael recently embarked on a new career as an Associate Instrument Technician at the Baroque Violin Shop here in Cincinnati. When not making music or working on instruments Michael enjoys going on hikes with his dog Moishe, and watching movies and playing video games with his friends.
Ibn-Hakia: Andrew Hallam
A native of Detroit, bass-baritone Andrew Hallam is committed to connecting with audiences through the multi-faceted possibilities of opera and song.
Recent performances include Nardo in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera, Peter Quince in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Revírník (Forester) in Leoš Janáček’s Příhody lišky Bystroušky (The Cunning Little Vixen) with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), Dr. Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with Opera in the Ozarks, Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Vienna Summer Music Festival, and Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with the University of Michigan Opera Theatre.
Andrew Hallam received a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan and a Master of Music in Voice Performance at CCM and will soon engage in CCM’s Artist Diploma Program. There, he was the winner of the Seybold-Russell Award in the CCM 2023 Opera Scholarship Competition.
For more information, visit www.andrew-hallam.com
Robert: K. Michael Young
Mike Young, baritone, is an Ohio native performing a wide variety of repertoire, from Bach to Wagner, on the operatic and concert stages. Recent operatic performances include Alberich in Wagner’s Siegfried, Marcello in Puccini’s La bohème, Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca, George Milton in Floyd’s Of Mice and Men, Enrico in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Baron Douphol in Verdi’s La traviata, and the titular roles in Verdi’s Macbeth and Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Concert performances include the title role of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Baritone Soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s Israel in Egypt, and Bach’s B Minor Mass, Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio, St. Matthew Passion, and St. John Passion.
Seemingly never content in a singular profession, Mike is a freelance graphic designer and social media marketer whose oeuvre can mainly be seen on beer cans throughout the Cincinnati metropolitan area.
Vaudemont: M. Andrew Jones
Tenor M. Andrew Jones enchants audiences with his powerful vocal presence and unwavering passion. His artistry showcases the very essence of contemporary operatic excellence, earning accolades from critics and fellow artists alike.
Jones’ portrayal of Lenski in concert with Queen City Opera, mesmerized audiences with his “firm, heroic” sound full of depth and emotion. Much acclaim has followed his portrayals of Max in Der Freischütz and Mime in Siegfried at Valhalla Productions in San Francisco, solidifying his reputation as a versatile and technically adept artist. Notable performances include Gulbrand in Queen City Opera’s production of Undina by Tchaikovsky, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Queen City Opera, The Messenger in Aida, and the Innkeeper in Der Rosenkavalier with Cincinnati Opera.
Stage Director: Dashiell Waterbury
Dashiell Waterbury directs and performs in tenor repertoire across the country. Productions include a variety of theater work, including original adaptations of classic works, traditionally staged operas, musicals, and Shakespeare. Recent highlights area 150th anniversary production of Strauss’ Die Fledermaus for Stetson University, where he has served as Head of Opera, Haydn’s The Creation with the Washington National Opera Orchestra, in which he also performed the role of Uriel, and Bizet’s Carmen for Washington Opera Society. Past highlights include Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Mark Adamo’s Little Women, Mozart’s Die Zauberflӧte, Handel’s Oreste, Argento’s Postcard from Morocco, Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot, a fresh adaptation of Shakespeare’s Two Noble Kinsmen set in the Old West, and Dashiell’s own musical revue show Over There, about America’s involvement in World War I. He is thrilled to be back at Queen City Opera, where he had his directing debut in one of the company’s first seasons.
Conductor and QCO Artistic Director: Isaac Selya
Isaac leads acclaimed performances that combine high-caliber classical music with community collaborations.
He made his German debut conducting the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. He has also conducted performances with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Xiamen Philharmonic in China, and the National Symphony of Guatemala.
Isaac’s conducting can be heard on the soundtrack to the award-winning video game, Masquerada: Songs and Shadows. He started his professional music career at the age of 18 singing in the chorus of the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem, Israel. For German publisher Bärenreiter, Isaac served as editor of a new edition of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin that used cutting-edge artificial intelligence to automate the transcription of Russian text into International Phonetic Alphabet. Isaac and his wife Pin-Hsuan Chen, a violinist and personal trainer, share their home with three cats: Tosca, Aida, and Tamino.
Queen City Opera Board of Directors
Deborah Lewis, President
Cat Cooke, Treasurer
Karlee Hilliard
Emily Montion
Kathy Sandman
Daniel Tonozzi
Queen City Opera Supporters
Make a tax-deductible gift here: https://queencityopera.org/support/
This production is supported in part by a grant from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation Aronoff Center Rental Subsidy Fund.
Dr. Paule Asche
Robert and Debra Chavez
Dr. Arch Carson
Catherine Cook
Karlee Hilliard
Dan Hoffheimer
Ted and Anne Jaroszewicz
Dr. Ted Silberstein and Jacqueline Mack
Suzanne Masterson
David and Vicky Motch
William Needelman
Stuart Own
Glenn and Cassandra Plott
Aik Khai Pung
Hera Reines
Burr and Terry Robinson
Kitty Strauss and Dick Rosenthal
Kathy Sandman
Janet Schultz
Mark Shapiro
Bev Smith Wright
Dan Smith Franklin
Michael Sturgulewski
Catharina and Bob Toltzis
Ginger Warner
Frederick Warren
Ginger Warner
ArtsWave
Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation
Elsa Heisel Sule Foundation
Gerson Family Charitable Trust
Matinée Musicale
Nippert Musical Arts Fund
Ohio Arts Council
Puffin Foundation
William O. Purdy, Jr. Foundation